How can I use an ES6 import in Node.js? [duplicate]

Answer 1

Back to Jonathan002's original question about

"... what version supports the new ES6 import statements?"

based on the article by Dr. Axel Rauschmayer, there is a plan to have it supported by default (without the experimental command line flag) in Node.js 10.x LTS. According to node.js's release plan as it is on 3/29, 2018, it's likely to become available after Apr 2018, while LTS of it will begin on October 2018.

Answer 2

You may try esm.

Here is some introduction: esm

Answer 3

Using the .mjs extension (as suggested in the accepted answer) in order to enable ECMAScript modules works. However, with Node.js v12, you can also enable this feature globally in your package.json file.

The official documentation states:

import statements of .js and extensionless files are treated as ES modules if the nearest parent package.json contains "type": "module".

{
  "type": "module",
  "main": "./src/index.js"
}

(Of course you still have to provide the flag --experimental-modules when starting your application.)

Answer 4

Node.js has included experimental support for ES6 support. Read more about here: https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v13.x/api/esm.html#esm_enabling.

TLDR;

Node.js >= v13

It's very simple in Node.js 13 and above. You need to either:

• Save the file with .mjs extension, or
• Add { "type": "module" } in the nearest package.json.

You only need to do one of the above to be able to use ECMAScript modules.

Node.js <= v12

If you are using Node.js version 8-12, save the file with ES6 modules with .mjs extension and run it like:

node --experimental-modules my-app.mjs

Answer 5

You can also use npm package called esm which allows you to use ES6 modules in Node.js. It needs no configuration. With esm you will be able to use export/import in your JavaScript files.

Run the following command on your terminal

yarn add esm

or

npm install esm

After that, you need to require this package when starting your server with node. For example if your node server runs index.js file, you would use the command

node -r esm index.js

You can also add it in your package.json file like this

{
  "name": "My-app",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Some Hack",
  "main": "index.js",
  "scripts": {
    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1",
    "start": "node -r esm index.js"
  },

}

Then run this command from the terminal to start your node server

npm start

Check this link for more details.